


Love Is

by Senna



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Post-3DS, sounds ominous but it really isn't
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 07:31:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13876158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senna/pseuds/Senna
Summary: Sitting in the quiet peace of Yen Sid’s library, a book in one hand and Sora’s endless chatter in his ear, all Riku could think was, ‘I missed this’.This pocket of peace would come to an end prematurely. Like all good things did.





	Love Is

**Author's Note:**

> Post-3DS

Life as a Keyblade Master wasn’t so different from being a trainee, Riku suspected. Since they were all just preparing for the final clash with Xehanort and his others, Yen Sid didn’t have any _Keyblade Master_ type tasks for him.

Inevitably, that meant he spent most of his time by Sora’s side, listening to the other boy complain about all the studying Master Yen Sid was making him do. Or on more pleasant days, they sparred.

It reminded him a lot of life on the Islands. Sora had never really been the best student, severely lacking the attention span to listen for seven hours straight. Riku remembered feeling endlessly annoyed at this at the time, since _he_ had been the one on the receiving end of Sora’s complaints about all the _reading_ and _homework_.

But these days, sitting in the quiet peace of Yen Sid’s library, a book in hand and Sora’s endless chatter in his ear – all he could think was, _‘I missed this’._

Even the sparring reminded him of life at the Islands. While fighting with the Keyblade wasn’t nearly the same level as the playing fighting they did back on the Islands, the adrenaline, the rush of having a great sparring partner was still the same. Even if Sora has improved enough to knock Riku off his feet as many times as Riku does to him.

There were notable differences of course. Kairi joined them in their sparring sometimes – back at the island she’d acted as a spectator, or a referee. Kairi was improving, but the experience gap was still quite noticeable. Sora pulled back his blows thanks to this, and because Kairi was well, Kairi, it frustrated her to no end.

Lea was another disparity from the Islands, a wild card that joined their sparring sessions sporadically. With his Chakrams, he was good enough to win a good handful of sparring sessions against both Sora and Riku – but with his Keyblade, the inexperience was clear. The differences in the weapons were vast and he was still having trouble keeping it materialized. So more often then not, Kairi and Lea trained under the fairies, or Yen Sid’s watchful eye.

Riku couldn’t help but be secretly relieved at the fact. Sora _was_ the key to everyone’s hope after all. Riku could only selfishly hoard Sora’s time to himself for so long.

This pocket of peace – something that could only be described as a _vacation_ , compared to the chaos of the last few years – would come to an end prematurely. Like all good things did.    

Sora thought he was subtle, but he really wasn’t. Riku knew him too well, and Sora wasn’t too subtle to begin with.

It began with excuses, rushed apologies of Kairi needing him, or Yen Sid, or even Lea at one point. Large swatches of time where Sora would mysteriously go missing, only to show up at their shared room late at night citing a run in with Heartless.

But out of all these things, the worst was the fact that their precious little time, already cut short, had become stagnant.

Sessions in the library were silent. Sora spent most of his time fiddling with his pen, quiet and obviously distracted. He kept shooting Riku what he probably thought were discreet glances while Riku pretended to read whatever he had at hand.

When Sora dropped his pen for the umpteenth time, Riku finally snapped. He dropped his book onto the table, glaring at the brunet.

“Okay,” he snapped. Sora cowered – _cowered_. “What’s going on?”

 “Nothing!” Sora’s voice squeaked in a distinctively _not_ nothing way. Riku crossed his arms, eyes narrowing.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

“No I haven’t!”

“Sora, if something’s wrong, you can tell me.”

Sora’s eyes flashed with something – fear? Riku, fearing the worse himself, subconsciously reached out with a hand of comfort. He wasn’t even sure what he was going to do – grab Sora’s arm maybe. A hand on his shoulder. Familiar contact. Anything.

Sora pushed himself back and away from Riku so abruptly he knocked his book and papers off the table. Sora laughed, although it was clearly forced.

“Oops! Sorry Riku, gotta go seeyoulaterbye—” And before Riku could even respond, Sora was out the library, leaving the door swinging behind him.

* * *

“I think he’s mad at me.”  Riku said, staring into nothing. “He won’t even _look_ at me.”

Riku hadn’t been _meaning_ to talk to anyone about the issue, keeping his emotions locked inside worked just fine thanks.

But of course Kairi had noticed something was wrong, having been subjected to an apparently subdued Sora, and came to Riku for answers.

Kairi, sitting at the table across from him stared at him for a moment before slapping her face.

“I didn't think _you’d_ react to this situation this way,” Kairi groaned. Riku just stared at her, uncomprehending. “You really have changed, haven’t you?”

“…What?”

Kairi just shook her head.

“Never mind,” she said, sighing loudly as she dropped her chin onto her palm. “Riku did you completely forget how Sora reacted when he first saw you again? In the Organization’s castle?”

As if he could forget – that memory was branded into his mind.

“Of course I remember.”

“Well,” she said. “He cried.”

Riku nodded. Despite the guilt and everything that came with it, the reunion still had a tender place in his heart.

“Yeah,” he said. When Kairi shot him another significant look, noticing the way his face had softened, he glanced away, adding, “the cry baby.”

“Boys,” she groaned. “I thought you’d be the sensible one.”

“I am sensible,” he said. Kairi just gave him an extremely judgemental look.

“Alright let me tell you something Riku,” Kairi leaned in closer to him, stabbing a finger at his face. “When Sora enters the room, your expression completely changes.”

Riku frowned.

“Does it?” Kairi nodded, clasping her hands together.

“All sweet and tender.” Riku felt himself immediately flush at that – he couldn’t meet her eye. Kairi smiled widely. “You’re more transparent then you think.”

“Great,” he said dryly. Clearly he hadn’t been controlling himself as well as he could. He straightened up at that thought with horrified realization. “Wait. Does Sora…”

Kairi laughed.

“You know Sora,” she said. “He’s completely blind to this kind of stuff.”

Riku sighed, relaxing.

“Of course,” he muttered, combing a hand through his hair.

“But well – Sora’s the same you know.”

Riku frowned.

“What?”

Kairi smiled at him, soft.

“His expression changes when he sees you too.”

* * *

Kairi chased Riku out of her room pretty soon after that, leaving him to ponder her words. Honestly, he felt like she’d left him with more questions then actual answers.

What did she mean? Why did Sora’s expression change? Why did she bring up their reunion? He felt like he had the hundred pieces to a puzzle that didn’t seem to quite fit together.

It would all be so much easier if his heart didn’t hurt so damn _much_.

Somehow he found himself at his bedroom door by autopilot. It was still early but he was tired. Sighing, Riku opened the door.

To his surprise, Sora was already sitting at his bed. When Riku entered the room he looked up, his face brightening with a blinding smile.

The smile was brief, a second before Sora caught himself, his smile dimming as he looked away. But Riku had caught that smile, that one second.

The puzzle pieces lined themselves up.

“Sora,” he said, his heart pounding in his chest. “Do you hate me?”

Sora’s head whipped back up.

“What?” Sora shook his head quickly. “No! Of course not!”

Riku sat on the bed next to Sora.

“Sora,” he said, keeping his voice soft. Sora seem to wilt a little at this. “I know that you’re avoiding me. If I did something wrong just tell me. I can take it.”

Sora shook his head furiously but refused to look Riku in the eye.

“It’s not you,” he murmured.

“Then what is it?”

Sora stared at his hands. He’d taken off his gloves – they were lying on his nightstand.

“It’s dumb. And you’re going to hate me,” Sora said. He sounded miserable.

“I could never hate you.”

Sora peeked up at Riku.

“Really? Even if I accepted the darkness?”

“That would be pretty hypocritical, if I did.”

Sora offered a tiny smile.

“Well…Lea mentioned something that made me think.” Sora pulled his knees up, hugging them.

Of course it was Lea. Riku made the mental note to warn him about putting strange ideas in Sora’s head.

“What did he say?”

“He said that I was really… transparent.”

Well – it wasn’t a lie.

“And?”

“And he said he would be surprised if you hadn’t…” Sora hugged his knees tighter. “If you hadn’t noticed that… that I…”

Riku was suddenly struck by the significance of the moment.

“You don’t have to force yourself to tell me, if you don’t want to,” he said quickly. It was an out not just for Sora, but for himself too.

Riku used to embrace the unknown. He wasn’t so sure anymore. 

Sora opened his mouth, closed it again. “I—”

Riku stood up. He felt as if he was on the edge of something – teetering, lined with fear.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s fine, Sora.”

He started to walk towards the door – running away like the coward he was – when a hand grabbed his, stopping him.

Sora’s eyes were burning with determination.

“I miss you,” Sora blurted out. Riku’s mind went remarkably blank. “I hate avoiding you, and not being with you is horrible. Not just this week but – before too.” His hand around Riku’s tightened. “So just – please don’t leave.”

Riku could only nod, stunned.

“I talked to Kairi,” Sora continued. “She said that you didn’t know. And I was so scared of you finding out that – I avoided you. It was dumb.” His eyes were bright. “I didn’t want – I didn’t want to lose you again. So…”

Sora grabbed Riku by his lapels, dragged him down, and pressed his lips to his.

It didn’t even qualify as a kiss. Their lips barely even touched before Sora had released him, but Riku’s could still feel the lingering warmth of Sora’s lips. He lifted a hand to his lips, gaping in shock.

Sora was blushing.

“So…” Sora dropped his head, as if he could hide the red from his cheeks. “So – I’m going to – find Kairi!”

Sora sprinted past Riku and out of the room, slamming the door behind him, leaving Riku with the chaos of his spinning thoughts and the tingling warmth of Sora’s lips on his.  

 

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe part 2 coming up.


End file.
